After
by Fangirling It 7
Summary: After Mount Weather Lexa meets with Kane and Abby to discuss terms. Takes place after 2x16.
1. Chapter 1

_I own nothing. Just a product of my imagination with these awesome characters._

Indra walks into my tent and waits for me to acknowledge her presence.

"Indra," I say.

"Heda, Marcus and Abby kom Skaikru are outside of TonDC. They are requesting an audience with you," says Indra.

"Have any scouts seen Clarke?" I ask. I crave information on the blonde beauty from the sky. I keep remembering her broken voice begging me to stay and fight with her on the mountain. I wanted to stay and fight with her, but my people must come first.

"No, Heda, not since right after the mountain fell," replied Indra.

"But the scouts are sure that Clarke was at the sky camp?" I had sent scouts to Camp Jaha in order to see what the sky people did after we left them on the mountain. I had to know what happened with the blonde sky leader.

Indra looked at me a beat longer than necessary before replying, "Yes, Heda. She came back with the sky people from the mountain, but then she left soon after."

I nodded. "Send the skaikru in."

Indra gave a bow before turning to leave. I turn and head for my throne.

"Heda." Indra begins uneasily.

"Speak freely, Indra."

"Clarke kom Skaikru is strong, perhaps not physically, but she is intelligent. She bested Anya and Tristian in battle. She came up with the plan to free the prisoners from the mountain. She even managed to make the reapers human again. Wherever she went when she left her people, she'll be okay."

I nod to her and she leaves to get the sky leaders who aren't Clarke. I hope Indra is right. Clarke is resourceful, I've known it since our encounter with the Puana. Indra returned with Marcus and Abby kom Skaikru pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Commander," said Marcus and he bowed his head respectfully.

Abby stood in front of me, but said and did nothing. Her posture reminds me a little of Clarke during our first meeting weeks ago.

"Marcus. Abby."

"Commander, we have come to renegotiate terms of the truce that Clarke and you started," begins Marcus diplomatically.

"Where is my daughter?" demands Abby.

Marcus turned to Abby. "Clarke left voluntarily."

"I want to hear her say that." Abby looked at me, but kept her voice low.

"Abby, not now," whispered Marcus, "We need this truce to continue. To keep everyone safe."

"My scouts have not seen Clarke, since the fall of the mountain." I told Abby, "I have ordered my warriors, should they come across her, to leave her be. No harm will come to her as long as she roams the woods under my command."

"And we are supposed to just take her word for it? After the mountain." Abby says to Marcus. I close my eyes for a moment to make allowance for a mother worried about her daughter. Abby lacks the diplomatic mind her daughter and Marcus have; she says what comes to mind without thinking of the potential consequence.

"Clarke left your camp on her own. I would have nothing to gain by taking her. If you wish to discuss terms of a continued truce, then we may continue to talk, otherwise we have nothing further to discuss." I say. Marcus and Abby exchange a look with each other. They seem to silently discussing their options with each other.

Marcus turns back to look at me, "We wish for the cease fire to continue between our people. We would also like to go back to Mount Weather and take care of the dead as well as take a few supplies for our infirmary. We would also like for the kill order on Lincoln to be lifted."

"I cannot lift Lincoln's kill order. He chose to ignore my order of retreat and that alone is enough to warrant his execution. Lincoln made his choice now he must live with it. However, so long as he stays within the walls of your camp I will not call for his death. If he is outside the wall he will be killed on sight." I say. I am jealous that Lincoln was able to follow his heart and go back to the mountain, but ignoring my order must remain a crime punishable by death.

"What about the cease fire and Mount Weather?" prompts Abby.

"So long as your people respect the cease fire; mine will as well. As for Mount Weather, you may dispose of the dead in there as you see fit. You may remove items from the mountain, but should my scouts begin to suspect you intend to make the mountain operational again…" I trailed off deciding to allow them to fill in where would happen should they try to use the mountain against my people.

"Thank you, Commander. We have one other request," says Marcus.

"Then speak it, Marcus kom skaikru." I say. I don't why the sky people keep Abby as a leader when Clarke and Marcus seem better suited for the tasks required of leaders.

"We wish to send out search parties…" began Marcus.

"For Clarke?" I interrupt. Trying to sound impartial. It was true I had given the order for anyone who came across Clarke to leave her be, but soon her slaying of the mountain would become common knowledge. After that I wasn't sure what my people would do. I suspected that some would try to kill her for her power as our legends demand.

"In part, but when we came down from space our ship broke apart and there were people in other parts of the ship," says Marcus.

"That seems reasonable," I reply, "If that is all I have to finish my preparations to the capital."

"Yes, thank you, Commander," says Marcus.

"Wait. There is one more thing," interjects Abby. I stare at her and wait for her to continue. "If your people find Clarke we want to know and we want her returned to her people."

I had been expecting this since Abby's arrival in my tent and I had been working on my answer since.

"I will send word if she is found, but as she left on her own I will not force her to return if she doesn't wish to."

Abby opened her mouth to argue, but Marcus put his hand on her shoulder and she closed her mouth and turned to leave. Marcus bowed his head respectfully and followed Abby out. Indra follow them out as well.

I slumped in my throne. I did what was right for my people that night on the mountain, but betraying Clarke, leaving her there, that still haunts me. After hearing that Clarke had used the air against the mountain men I know there is little chance of her forgiveness. Killing didn't come easily for the blonde. Since I sounded the retreat and I forced her to commit such acts by leaving her at the mountain I need to find a way for Skaikru and the rest of the coalition to live in peace. I need to find a way to make it impossible for me to betray her in battle again should the occasion arise again and assuming Clarke returns. Perhaps if Skaikru joins the coalition. I'll have to speak with Titus about this upon my return to Polis.


	2. Chapter 2

_This is in Kane point of view right after they left the tent._

"How could you be so nice and polite to her? How could you bow and respect her? She took my daughter," demanded Abby. I kept my mouth closed as Abby continued to yell at me. She was, thankfully, keeping her volume down as we walked through TonDC. If she started to shout about how she thought the commander had Clarke we might be in trouble. We might still get in some trouble with Indra escorting us back to Arkadia.

"She has to be lying. She has to know where Clarke is. Why would you be nice to her? After she broke her deal with Clarke? After she made Clarke…." She stopped there because talking about what Clarke had done to save us was still too hard to say out loud.

I looked over to Indra who was on my other side. She was looking at Abby and I could have sworn that it looked like hand that was on her sword had gripped it tighter. I needed to calm Abby down before she said something that she couldn't take back. Abby needed to stay calm until we were behind the walls of Arkadia.

"Indra, could Chancellor Griffin and I have a minute to talk alone?" I ask. Indra looked between us before nodding once and walking over to a group of her warriors to talk. I grabbed Abby's upper arm and tugged her a little further from Indra and the others so that we couldn't be overheard. I kept the pace slow mindful of the fact that Abby was still healing from the bone marrow extraction at Mount Weather.

"Marcus, what are you doing?" Abby asks when she sees we are no longer headed towards Arkadia.

"Abby, you can't keep blaming Lexa for Clarke leaving…." I began

"If she had…" I put my hand up to signal her to stop talking.

"I know things would be different if Lexa hadn't left us at Mount Weather, but Lexa didn't take Clarke. We know that. We know she wanted to go. Now we need to try and restore and keep the peace between the grounders and us. We need to keep whatever good will that was built before Mount Weather to continue. We don't want the grounders to view us as a threat again, if that happens that's a war I'm not sure we will win."

"I don't see how getting Lexa to find Clarke interferes with that. She's the reason Clarke left she should help find my daughter." I sigh in frustration. When Abby is separated from Clarke being reunited is all she can think and everything and everyone else be damned. First on the Ark when she got Raven to rebuild that pod. Then on the ground she freed Bellamy and gave the other members of the hundred guns in order to go looking for Clarke. Now she seems almost willing to start a war in order to find Clarke.

"Abby, Clarke left camp voluntarily. She told Bellamy she couldn't be in camp after Mount Weather. He said she still had her gun when she left. No one took her…" I put my hand up again in order to keep her from interrupting me, "Now I'm not saying we won't go looking for her because we will and we will find her, but Clarke can't be our only concern."

"What if we don't?" whispered Abby. I know it's her biggest fear that she'll never see Clarke again. That her and Clarke won't get a chance to talk about everything that's happened. I'm fairly certain we will find Clarke, but I don't think we will find her until she wants to be found.

"We will." I promise her. Hoping I'm right that Clarke will be found when she's ready or that she's come back on her own when she is ready. "But in the meantime…"

"Keep the peace with Lexa and the grounders," finishes Abby. I smile at her because I wasn't sure she was listening to me talk at our meeting before we met with Lexa. I spent the whole meeting trying to stress the importance of diplomacy with Lexa and reminding her that despite Clarke's ability to challenge the commander during a meeting we shouldn't try the same thing.

"Let's get back to camp," I say and turn back towards camp. I hear her fall into step next to me. Suddenly Indra is on my other side as well, the way the grounders move so silently still surprises me.

When the gates of Arkadia are in sight I see Abby quicken her pace. I slow mine as does Indra. I watch Abby walk towards the gate for a few minutes before I turn toward Indra. I had felt that during the training and strategizing sessions Indra and I had developed not quite a friendship, but that we certain come to understand each other.

Before I could speak she began to talk, "While in TonDC or outside your gates it would be wise to remind Chancellor Griffin that speaking ill of the commander is unwise. It will not be tolerated should others hear it."

"As you can imagine she is just worried for her daughter's safety, but I actually had another matter I wished to discuss with you."

She turned to look at me indicating I should continue.

I pulled the radio from my back pocket and try to hand it to her, but she won't take it. "I know you have traditions or legends about not taking technology, or that was how Octavia had tried to explain it, but we want you to carry this or at least have it."

She ignored the mention of Octavia, but she stared at the radio intently, "Why do you wish me to have it and not the commander?"

"As I understand it you spend most of your time here in TonDC and if you or the commander have something you wish to discuss with us we would be able to meet you in a mutually agreed upon area that way you would not have to travel all the way to our camp." Indra continued to look at the radio but she didn't take it. I tried again, "You don't have to decide now, but take it and if the need ever arises that you want to meet; just press this button down three times and we will meet you between here and TonDC." I press the talk button down three times to indicate how it should be done.

Indra hesitantly takes the radio from my hands and repeats the signal to show she understood how to use it. I give her a smile and I turn intending to head back to Arkadia.

"Kane." Indra says and I turn back to face her. "No one had seen Clarke since the mountain. I think and the commander agrees that Clarke might not wish to be found right now."

I exhale slowly happy that someone else shares my opinion about Clarke's departure. "Do you think she will be okay on her own?" It had been worrying me since Bellamy told

us she had left. Clarke is resourceful. She's proved that over and over again since coming to the ground, but now she is alone and I wasn't sure if she would be okay without one of her friends.

Indra looked away before answering, "I hope so. She has proven to be a skilled leader. She has faced many challenges and lived."

It wasn't exactly reassuring but it might be the best I should hope for from Indra. I held my hand out in order to shake hers, but when she raised her arm she grasped my forearm and I did the same to hers. We gave a mutual nod of understanding and turned and faced our respective camps and headed home.


End file.
